Kraft Hockeyville contenders trimmed to 10

Ron MacLean and Cassie Campbell of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada revealed the 10 hockey-crazed communities Wednesday, selected from more than 7,100 nominations.

Each entrant lobbied to convey their community's exceptional spirit, originality and passion for hockey.

The 10 communities in the knockout phase are:

Harbour Grace, N.L.

Stanley, N.B.

Acton Vale, Que.

Thetford Mines, Que.

Elmira, Ont.

Lincoln, Ont.

Humboldt, Sask.

La Broquerie, Man.

Penticton, B.C.

Terrace, B.C.

"The top 10 communities demonstrated real devotion to their hometowns, and beat out a record number of submissions," Kraft Canada president Dino Bianco said. "The overwhelming volume of entrants is a testament to strong community spirit and the love of hockey in Canada."

Canadians can vote at CBCSports.ca/hockeyville or by phone at 1-866-533-8066 or by text message using VOTE + community name to 222111 (standard text message rates apply).

Voting is unlimited and ends Jan. 18 at 11:59 p.m. ET, with the first of the five finalists revealed Jan. 25 during the NHL All-Star Game (CBC, 6 p.m. ET ).

Each of the four remaining finalists will be revealed and profiled live by Campbell — one per week — on CBC's Hockey Night In Canada between Jan. 31 and Feb. 28.

Once the profiles have been broadcast, public voting will resume to determine the winning community, to be announced on CBC's Hockey Night In Canada on March 7.

The community crowned Kraft Hockeyville 2009 receives an NHL pre-season game played in the local arena, $100,000 in arena upgrades, and will be featured in a one-hour special to be aired on CBC-TV in September 2009.

The other four finalists receive $25,000 in arena upgrades from Kraft.